In Now Digital New York, Polaroid Artists Tout Analog Art

The Impossible Project opens its new store and photography exhibit today on Broadway in SoHo.

A couple years ago, Polaroid – onetime innovator of instant analog photography – looked like a dying technology, another casualty of the digital revolution. In 2008, the company’s factory closed and the film was discontinued. Enthusiasts stockpiled what they could, saving it, waiting for that perfect shot and then snap: another click towards extinction.

Even in the fashion industry, a longtime Polaroid stalwart, some began to switch to digital. (Though others, like Kelly Cutrone of People’s Revolution, grew adept at hoarding).

But recently Polaroid-style photography has found new life. Not only is Polaroid releasing a new analog instant camera, but a Netherlands-based company called The Impossible Project has developed a new type of film that works with some old Polaroid cameras.

Today, the Impossible Project opened its first American store on Broadway in SoHo, where it will sell Polaroid cameras, compatible film, accessories and books. The store will also feature an exhibit that showcases the works of instant analog photographers such as Grant Hamilton, Jake Chessum and Laura Watt, among others.

The company released the product in March, but says it will only make 1 million packs of film this year, perhaps to keep alive the allure of its limited availability. There are an estimated 300 million working Polaroid cameras still around out there.

The new film is not exactly the same as the original, according to our confreres at Speakeasy. It’s not yet available in color. The pictures initially appear blue, not white as with the old film. And shooting in cold weather may whitewash some photos.

Still enthusiasts won’t need to hoard it or troll for it on eBay. The new film sells for $21 a pack (eight shots). For the old film, some had been paying more than $60 a pack.

Below, see a video on the fashion industry’s love of Polaroid, originally published Sept. 11, 2008.